Omega

founded by

Louis Brandt

belongs to

Swatch Group

about

Omega SA is a Swiss luxury watchmaker based in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland. Omega is one of the most known and recognized watches in the world. Omega was the official Time Keeping device of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. Omega estimates that 7 out of every 10 people have heard of Omega watches. Omega is owned by the Swatch Group.

Louis Brandt, 23 years old, set up an assembly workshop in La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1848. During the long winter months he used the few daylight hours to assemble precision pocket watches from components delivered by local craftsmen.

In 1879 Louis Brandt died and his two sons, Louis-Paul and Cesar, switched production from the assembly workshop to manufacture due to irregular deliveries of insufficient quality, and thus gained control of the entire production process.

The first minute-repeater watch was launched in 1892, capable of sounding the hours, quarter hours and minutes at the touch of a button.

The 19-Line Calibre “Omega” was created by Francois Chevillant. This innovation was manufactured using groundbreaking industrial methods resulting from the automated, separated construction structure, founded on the exchange of customary parts.

In 1937 Omega launched the first waterproof watches and in 1943 the first range of automatic watches.

In 1956, during the Melbourne Olympic games, Omega pioneered the use of a stopwatch that functioned using a light signal in conjunction with a bell to trigger the start of races.

In 1957 Omega launched the “Speedmaster” watch: originally designed for research, engineering and sport, the un-modified Speedmaster passed 11 NASA environmental tests and ultimately became the first and only watch on the moon in 1969.